“The Time Capsule”

During this fall all 9th graders in Sogn and Fjordane county will get to visit a museum close to where they live. These visits are part of the new Cultural heritage programs offered by The Cultural Schoolbag (TCS) Sogn and Fjordane, developed in cooperation with representatives from TCS and with mentors from Seanse Art Center.

Fall of 2016 and spring 2017, mentors from the Seanse Art Center were engaged by The Cultural Schoolbag (TCS) in Sogn og Fjordane in developing Cultural heritage programs at the various museum departments at MISF (Museums in Sogn og Fjordane).

The prosess raised important questions relating to the target group, the 9th graders in secondary School, for whom these Cultural heritage programs are intended. What is cultural heritage? Is cultural heritage important? Why do we have museums? What are the main tasks for a museum? Who decides what is important to take care of for the future generations? Is this in any way relevant to 9th graders? How can we make it relevant?

The Cultural heritage programs have been named “The Time Capsule” and will consist of two parts:

The students will get a general introduction to museum work and cultural heritage. The studens get to know why we have museums and what are the museums main tasks.

The students will get to know more specific about the museum they are visiting. What is this exact museum’s mission? What is the main objects or history this particular museum are to preserve?

The prosess in developing the Cultural heritage programs started November 2016 with a seminar at the Museum of Art in Førde. All museum educators from the different departments were present and presented each their drafts for the Cultural heritage programs. Winter and spring 2017 they were continuing developing their individual programs. In May and June each museum department invited the target group to test-run their programs. A mentor from Seanse Art Center, together with advisors from The Cultural Schoolbag (TCS) Sogn and Fjordane were present during this prosess.

Museum educators are constantly getting better at communicating with their audience and adjusting their programs targeting different age groups. Keywords for this type of educational programs are activity and experience, very often with what is refered to as “hands-on” activities. Children and youngsters do not want to be passive receivers of knowledge told by others. They want to learn by doing. And what greater environment is there than a museum setting with all the great old buildings and outdoor environment full of treasures to be discovered.

The museum departments beeing involved in the prosess of developing a Cultural heritage program for TCS are the Art Museum in Førde with their satelite department of Anders Svor Museum at Grodås, The Heibergske Samlinger / Sogn Folkemuseum in Kaupanger, Sunnfjord Museum in Movika at Førde, Norsk Kvernsteinsenter in Hyllestad, Nordfjord Folkemuseum in Sandane and The coastal museum in Florø in cooperation with representatives from TCS Sogn and Fjordane and with mentors from Seanse Art Center.